Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 174

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144

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In the Town of Harlon in Shelby County, Iowa, Ami Zimmerman spent the first ten years of his life, receiving in that time his school training, and he remained with his parents on the home ranch in Montana until past his majority. In about the year 1898 he embarked in the cattle business for him- self, and in 1900 added sheep to his herd, finally "abandoning the cattle industry to become almost exclusively a sheep raiser. He started in the sheep business with 1,000 head, bought partially on time and at $3.50 a head for ewes. His band continued to prosper and multiply until 1910-II, when he and his partner lost 4,700 head during the severe win- ter, this number entailing about half the flock. But the firm of Zimmerman & Selway continued the business despite this terrible loss, and eighteen months later Mr. Zimmerman purchased his partner's interest, added a few more sheep to the flock, but in the winter of 1912-13 he suffered another severe reverse in the loss of 3,600 head, the loss again cost- ing him about half his flock. But in spite of this discouraging circumstance he continued on in the business and has again felt himself master of the situation in the sheep industry. His first clip of wool brought but 9 cents a pound, and since that time he has sold his wool all the way up the scale in price to 721/2 cents a pound, the sheep industry on the whole proving more satisfactory to him than the cattle business.

Mr. Zimmerman began his ranching enterprise on the head of Indian Creek, a tributary of the Belle Fourche River, but in 1904 he moved to Willow Creek, where he homesteaded and proved up other lands of the public domain. His ranch is splen- didly improved with his home and extensive sheep barns, and is fenced. Its boundaries comprise 1,497 acres. Mr. Zimmerman's part in the political life of his community has been that of a voter, and he gives his allegiance to the republican party. His fraternal relations are with the Knights of Pythias.

He was married at Belle Fourche, South Dakota, December 25, 1900, to Miss Lydia A. Barr, a daugh- ter of John and Diana Barr, who came to South Dakota from Missouri, where Mrs. Zimmerman was horn. She is the only daughter in their family of four children. Mr. and Mrs. Barr are now living in Belle Fourche. Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman have one child, a daughter, Edith May, who is complet- ing her education at Long Beach, California, where the Zimmerman winter home has been recently established.

IRVING G. KING. People of the present generation should be proud of the old pioneers and first set- tlers and accord them the greatest esteem, for they blazed the way for succeeding generations and made possible our present prosperity and happy homes ; but we of today are apt to forget the great sacri- fices they made, the privations they had to face and the years of toil and discomfort they had to .endure in order that the wilderness might give way to fertile farms, prosperous ranches and populous communities. Among these early settlers of the eastern part of Montana must be numbered Irving G. King, now living in retirement in his comfortable home at Alzada. He came here a third of a century ago, and has lived to see the great changes which have taken place and in which he has had an active part.

Irving G. King was born near Yellville, Arkansas, on March 9, 1858, and is the son of Andrew J. and

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Mary (Magness) King. Andrew J. King was born in Alabama, and when a lad of eighteen years he accompanied his father, Joel King, on his removal to Arkansas. The latter took up a tract of Gov- ernment land in Marion County, being among the first settlers in that locality, and he and his son Andrew J. lived the remainder of their lives and died there. They were humble folk, owning a small tract of land, but they were of respectable stock and were held in esteem by their neighbors. Joel King and his wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Cheat- ham, now lie in the Crooked Creek Cemetery west of Yellville. They were the parents of five children, three sons being soldiers of the Civil war, one of them serving in the Union army. To Andrew J. and Mary King were born the following children : Nicy, now Mrs. Dodd, of Alzada, Montana; Nancy, who became the wife of John Jones, of Western Grove, Arkansas; Minerva married Nels Fowler of Western Grove; Fountain C. died at Belle Fourche, South Dakota; Martha became the wife of George Marshall and died near Alzada; Irving G. is the immediate subject of this sketch; and Andrew J., the youngest, lives at Great Falls, Montana.

Irving G. King, familiarly and widely known as "Bud" King, did not have the opportunities for a thorough education, but his scanty school training was liberally supplemented all through his after years by much reading and habits of close observation, so that today he is a well informed man on general topics. His boyhood and early manhood days were not characterized by any events of more than ordinary importance, the turning point in his career being when he decided to cut loose from old home ties and start for the new country of the Northwest, where great opportunities were presenting them- selves to those who had the courage and patience to tackle and conquer conditions as they were in those days. To make a long story short, it was the month of July, 1884, that he drove into Southeastern Mon- tana, a part of an Arkansas caravan of settlers, at the rear of which he drove two yoke of bulls. In Arkansas cattle were commonly used for work teams, and they were used as a common mode of travel by emigrants. He had been induced to migrate from his native state for two principal reasons, the con- dition of his health and the appeal of an old friend who had preceded him to Montana that this was the ideal place for the stock business. They passed through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, passing through what were known as the bad lands of the latter territory and rushing the quicksands of the Cheyenne River, following Rapid Creek to Rapid City, thence following the trail north through Sturgis, old Crook City to Spearfish and there took the old Miles City trail, which led them into their future location on the Little Missouri at Stoneville. This was then a part of Custer County, and remained so until Fallon County was created, and still later Carter County was carved out of Fallon. Thus Mr. King has had the' unique experience of living in three counties without having changed his residence. In addition to the two bull teams he also brought with him thirty-nine head of young heifers as a nucleus for his stock business. He erected a shack for a home on the unsurveyed public domain and began life among the buttes and coyotes. His first effort in the stock business was a disappointment, and in 1886 he disposed of his cattle with the inten- tion of leaving the territory the next spring. How- ever, by that time he had purchased the feed barn at Stoneville, which proved to be a profitable enter- prise, and he was thus able to meet expenses, and he decided to remain. That fall he also bought a . hotel and conducted it as a road ranch or public

stopping place until Mrs. King's health failed, when he abandoned that business. Mrs. King died in March, 1887, leaving him three small children to care for. Nevertheless, in the fall of that year he re- sumed the road ranch, did the cooking and other kitchen work and was both father and mother to his children. There was a period of several years be- tween the second abandonment of the road ranch until he took it up again, but this time his present wife was in charge, and for several years they con- ducted the Stranger's Home on the banks of the Little Missouri. This ranch was destroyed, with all its contents, by fire in 1911, and Mr. 'King did not continue the business longer. Perhaps no hostelry in all this section of country was more widely known than this old ranch, and certainly no place along the old trail extended a more hearty welcome or was more popular as a stopping place than this. Follow- ing this disaster Mr. King entered more actively into the stock business, obtained more land and be- came an active factor in the production of beef and mutton.

He had entered his homestead several years before . he filed on it. It lies on either side of the Little 'Missouri River, just above the site of old Stoneville, and his modest residence stands overlooking the banks of the stream. He proved up a desert claim besides his homestead and bought other titles to lands from time to time until he owned 1,100 acres of land in Montana and 300 acres in Wyoming, close by. He followed the cattle for many years under the brand "K-Bar" on the left ribs, and shipped the most of his stock from Belle Fourche to the Omaha and Chicago markets. In 1910 Mr. King decided to substitute sheep for cattle, and bought the nucleus of his stock on the heels of the sale of his cattle. His experience with sheep was varied, some years being satisfactory, other very discouraging. But re- verses did not deter him, and he continued with his sheep, paid his losses out of their earnings, rebuilt his depleted flocks and in February, 1917, sold his sheep interests for $16,000. He still retained a few cattle, but owing to the condition of his health he soon disposed of them and retired from active busi- ness.

Mr. King was married three times and each wife was from among his boyhood friends. His first wife was Elvira Harris, a daughter of Benjamin Harris, and to this union was born a son, Fortes N., of Alzada, state land commissioner and surveyor of this locality. The latter married Alice May Walker, and they have four children, Violet, Edward C., Fortes E. and Dean Eugene. For his second wife Mr. King was married to Susan Davis, who died leaving two children, Lou Ersce, Mrs. Walter Forde, of Belle Fourche, and Earl Clause, of Crook County, Wyoming, who married Laura Hale and has a son, Robert Beech.

For his third wife Mr. King married Mary Farris, of Chelsea, Oklahoma. Mrs. King was born in Marion County, Arkansas, on February 4, 1858, and is a daughter of Jerry and California (Dobbs) Farris. Mr. Farris entered the Confederate army from Arkansas, of which state he was an early settler. He had married in Marion County and spent his life there as a farmer. He was born in Tennessee in 1818, and was killed while a soldier near the close of the Civil war. He was the father of the follow- ing children: Joanna Catherine, who died single; Calaway, who died young; William McD., of Ward- ville, Oklahoma; Louisa, who married James Pal- mour, of Chelsea, Oklahoma; Mary, Mrs. King; and Sarah, the wife of Gus Pannell, of Chelsea, Oklahoma. Mrs. King was given but limited oppor- tunity for attending school, but her natural aptitude

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for acquiring knowledge made up for all deficiencies in school attendance. She learned to farm and took naturally .to all its phases as it applied to conditions . in Arkansas. When she married Mr. King she took her place beside him as an actual helpmeet and proved an invaluable aid to him in acquiring the competence which he is now enjoying. About that time she began an independent career in the stock business. For several years she had been active partner with her husband and son in the sheep business, and when she withdrew from that she continued the business alone. She has been successful · and owns fine herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. She has gained a reputation throughout this section of country for her sound business judgment and - ability. She and "Uncle Bud" are affectionately known far and wide throughout this section of the state, for their lives have been characterized by good deeds and kindly words, their genial and kindly natures shedding sunshine wherever they go. All admire them for their sterling honesty, their courage, hospitality and public spirit, and they are eminently deserving of a permanent place in a history of their section.

STEPHEN A. HOLT. In the daily laborious struggle for an honorable competence and a solid career on the part of a business or professional man there is little to attract the casual reader in search of a sensational chapter ; but to a mind thoroughly awake to the reality and meaning of human existence there are noble and imperishable lessons in the career of an individual who without other means than a clear head, strong arm and true heart, directed and con- trolled by correct principles and unerring judgment, conquers adversity and finally wins not only pecuniary independence but, what is far greater and higher, the deserved respect and confidence of those with whom his active years have been spent.

Stephen A. Holt, a successful pharmacist and pub- lic-spirited citizen of Ekalaka, Carter County, was born in Knox County, Nebraska, on September 18, 1874, the son of Benjamin and Betsy Ellen (Hobbs) Holt. Benjamin Holt was born in Norway, Maine, and was a son of Uriah Holt, also a native of Maine, whose family, long identified with the colonial history of New England, was of English origin. Benjamin Holt was a member of a Maine regiment during the Civil war and served four years as a private. He was with the Army of the Potomac and fought Lee along the Potomac and around Richmond. He was injured by falling from a mule in an ammunition train, sustaining injuries from which he suffered throughout the remainder of his life. In 1878 he moved to Creighton, Nebraska, entering land in Knox County, and there passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1901, when seventy-nine years of age. By his union with Betsy Ellen Hobbs, who passed away May 5, 1905, there were born the following children: Mrs. George W. Thomas, of Creighton, Nebraska; Mrs. James Rothwell, of Portland, Ore- gon ; Frank A., of Seattle, Washington; Mrs. L. L. Arnold, of Bellingham, Washington; Osgood, of Bellingham; William, of Knox County, Nebraska ; Lavina, deceased; and Stephen A., the immediate subject of this sketch.

Stephen A. Holt passed his early years on the parental homestead and attended school until twelve years of age, when he began to earn his own way, and it is worthy of note that his professional educa- tion was obtained entirely through his own unassisted efforts. He became a homesteader in Montana in 1909, entering his claim in old Custer County, now 'Carter County, about fourteen miles southeast of Ekalaka. He followed the usual routine of proving

up on his land, erected a typical log cabin, and lived there five years, improving his ranch and making some headway up to the time he sold his livestock and effects, keeping the homestead. When a resi- dent of that community he was instrumental in having a school established there and was elected a member of the school board, but as he was at that time employed in Ekalaka he could not serve and declined the position. He was also the choice of his locality for county commissioner, but failed of nomi- nation. His first experience in Ekalaka was as a clerk in the Olsen Drug Store, and in 1914 he opened a drug store on his own account, which he has since conducted, and he has commanded his full share of the public patronage. In addition to his practical experience in a drug store Mr. Holt was a student in the College of Pharmacy at Iowa City, Iowa, graduating in 1901, with the highest honors of his class. He carries a large and well selected stock of such accessory lines as are usually carried in a drug store, and is thoroughly up-to-date in his business methods. He was in the drug business in Nebraska for eight years, owning stores at Grass and Bristow that state.

'Mr. Holt was married in Boyd County, Nebraska, on April 15, 1903, to Anna L. O'Neill, who was born 'in Merrill, Wisconsin, on January 18, 1879, the daughter of Charles and Mary A. (Clair) O'Neill. Mr. O'Neill was a prominent attorney in Wisconsin, though a native of Canada. He settled in Nebraska many years ago. Mrs. Holt died on October 27, 1918, during the epidemic of the "flu." To Mr. and Mrs. Holt were born the following children: Mil- ford, Stephen A., Jr., Herbert, Helen and Robert.

Politically Mr. Holt is a stanch republican, though he was in sympathy with the progressive movement of one element of the party in 1912. He was elected to represent Carter County in the Legislature in November, 1918, being the first man so honored from this county. He was nominated against some oppo- sition and defeated his democratic opponent by the largest plurality on the ticket. As a member of the Sixteenth Legislature he was assigned to the com- mittees on agriculture, townships and counties and public utilities. His earlier public service was of a local character, he having served as mayor of Ekalaka before entering the Legislature, resigning his second term. Fraternally Mr. Holt is a past master of Ekalaka Lodge No. 120, Ancient Free and Accepted 'Masons, at Ekalaka, and is a past grand of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was a member of the Red Cross during the recent war and took a very active part in auxiliary war work. He has taken a keen interest in every- thing that promised to advance the material or civic interests of the town and assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Ekalaka, of which he became vice president. He was also secretary of the local Federal Loan Association and a member of the local school board. Because of his constant and untiring efforts for the welfare of the community and his high personal character he is eminently de- serving of the confidence and esteem which are given him by all who know him.

June 16, 1920, Mr. Holt was married to Miss Catherine Chilton, for several years primary teacher in the Ekalaka schools. The family now resides at Broadus, Montana, where Mr. Holt moved his drug stock in July, 1920. At this place he is con- ducting a thoroughly up-to-date pharmacy, the only drug store in Powder River County. In the new county he is becoming identified with civic affairs being unsolicitedly appointed county coroner at a recent session of the Board of County Commission- ers.

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COL. A. A. WHITE is a man of achievement, a constructive genius who has been the confidante and adviser of such great empire builders as the late James J. Hill. Colonel White has long regarded Montana as his home, and he enjoys the fame of history accorded in the phrase "father of Kalispell." He laid out the townsite of Kalispell for James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railroad.

Colonel White began his career June 18, 1844, when he was born in Addison County, Vermont, at the Village of Whiting, named in honor of his ancestors. He is a descendant of the Peregrine White family of Mayflower fame. Several genera- tions of the Whites have lived in Massachusetts. Colonel White's grandparents moved from Boston, riding horseback all the way, a journey of several hundred miles through a rough and sparsely settled country, to Otter Creek, Vermont, and their settle- ment on Otter Creek subsequently became known as Whiting. The White family is remarkable for longevity. Grandfather White died at the age of ninety-nine and his wife at a hundred and one. Their family consisted of Lyman P. White, father of Colo- nel White, six older brothers, and two older sisters, all of whom reached extreme old age. Lyman P. White died at Brainerd, Minnesota, at the age of ninety-three and never was ill a single day in his life, his mind remaining perfectly clear until thirty minutes of his death. He married Phoebe Keeler, of Vermont, who died at St. Louis, Missouri, at the age of fifty-two.

A. A. White was educated in the public schools of Vermont, also at Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, Wis- consin, and at the age of eighteen graduated from Lawrence University at Appleton, Wisconsin. On the day of his graduation he and twenty-one other university boys enlisted in Company E, of the 40th Wisconsin Infantry for service in the Civil war. He became sergeant of his company, and after a period of training at Madison went south with the troops and for some time was employed as a picket guard around the approaches to Memphis. While in this service the rebel General Forrest with a regiment of cavalrymen dashed into the city over the Hernando road at 3 o'clock one morn- ing, forced his way through the picket lines and made a dash for the Gayosa Hotel, his objective being the capture of Maj. Gen. C. C. Washburn of Minnesota and two other major generals who were stopping at that hotel. Some enterprising Union pickets had succeeded in outrunning the Confederate cavalryman, and by their early alarm General Wash- burn escaped, but he and his companions had to run clad only in their night clothes a distance of half a mile to the protection of the garrison. General Washburn believed that General Forrest was 200 miles away fighting 'Maj. Gen. A. J. Smith. Colonel White's colonel of the regiment was W. Augustus Ray, a prominent Wisconsin banker, while the lieu- tenant colonel was at that time a Methodist minister at Appleton, but is now an Episcopal bishop in Chicago.

After the war Colonel White took up civil engi- neering as his profession. He was also an expert accountant and bookkeeper and for four years was employed in the auditor's office of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company. Railway mag- nates recognizing in him unusual ability and trust- worthiness sent him out to Kansas to build rail- road lines. He went there in September, 1868, and had charge of the construction forces during the building of several railway lines, and for four years supervised the operation of 2,000 men and 500 teams. It was a profitable venture for him, and he returned to Chicago with a modest fortune of $15,000.

At Fort Scott, Kansas, Colonel White married Marian L. Knight. Her father was John Knight, a merchant of Rutland, Vermont, while her mother was a descendant of the Daniel Webster family. Mr. and Mrs. White had two children, Almond A, Jr., and Cecil E. The son Almond, Jr., died at the age of fourteen at Moorehead, Minnesota, while attending Dickey College. Miss Cecil was educated in Minnesota, spending one year in Dickey College, two years in St. Mary's Hall at Faribault, Minne- sota, two years in Mrs. Sylvanius Reed's School at New York City and another two years in Mount Vernon Seminary at Washington, where she grad- uated with high honors. Miss Cecil has crossed the ocean sixteen times visiting European countries. In 1916 she became the wife of the Italian Consul to Spain and is now a resident of Barcelona, Spain. She has a fluent command of French, Italian, Ger- man and Spanish as well as English.

Through all these years and for half a century altogether Colonel White has been a townsite pro- moter. He has laid out sixty townsites in Minne- sota, North Dakota, Montana, Washington and Oregon. He was the man above all others who exercised the chief influence in the development and sale of the magnificent sites around the glacier National Park, and he bought a large amount of land on Flathead Lake.

In November, 1890, he came to Montana and spent fourteen days at Demersville. He was at that time on a mission for James J. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railroad. Mr. Hill had instructed him to locate a townsite in the most eligible and scenic point of Flathead Valley. As a civil engineer he spent ten days making a thorough inspection of the country, and at the conclusion of his investiga- tions bought 1,600 acres for Mr. Hill and including the present site of Kalispell. He then organized the Kalispell Townsite Company and served as its vice president and managing director for 24 years. About 10 years ago Colonel White also bought land in Santa Ana Valley in Lynn County, Oregon, con- taining valuable townsites, water power and timber.

Colonel White is a stanch republican and he and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church. He was baptized and confirmed in that church 40 years ago and has served as a vestry man more than 30 years and as a senior warden 16 years. He has never been a candidate for office, though frequently tendered county and state political honors. He is affiliated with Acker Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of St. Paul.

Colonel White is an eminently positive character, as are all men of constructive genius. He has gone ahead and done things or got things done, and has seldon concerned himself with the criticisms either favorable or the reverse. Some have said that no man between St. Paul and the Pacific Coast has ever been criticized so freely as Colonel White, but while he freely recognizes that there are sins of omission at his door, there is on the other hand a large program of real work and achievement to his credit.

JOHN F. YOUNG, whose farming activities are equally important with his mercantile ones, is one of the well-known men of Big Horn County. He was born in Gentry County, Missouri, August 29, 1880, but in childhood his parents moved to Dawes County, Nebraska, and there he was reared and at- tended the country schools. His first work was done as a cowboy with J. B. Kendricks, now United States senator from Wyoming, on his "OW" ranch. Mr. Young continued to be a range rider until 1903; and was in the service of the Hysham Cattle Com-

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 174

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1144

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144